The teams split overtime games in Toronto.
Advertisement
The Warriors’ defensive shortcomings were more noticeable.
The Warriors lead the series 2-0.
Damian Lillard had a playoff-best 40 points and the Portland Trail Blazers avoided a fourth-quarter letdown Saturday night to beat Golden State 120-108, cutting the Warriors’ advantage in the Western Conference semifinal to 2-1.
Stephen Curry sat out again for Golden State, but could be healthy enough to come back for Games 4 or 5. Suddenly that’s not just a curiosity, it’s a possible series (and season) turning point.
“I imagine it’s coming soon”, Kerr said of Curry pressing the team to allow him to play.
That’s how it feels to defend Curry, Warriors. Saturday proved a different story, with Lillard taking advantage of any open space and making plenty of high-difficulty shots to prove that only Curry is his better in shooting off the bounce. In pushing the series to a 2-1 mark in favor of Golden State, a win might inspire Warriors coach Steve Kerr to dust off probable two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry, still recovering from a sprained MCL in his right knee.
He put the Warriors away for good with two step-back threes like he was messing around in a game of pickup in 24-Hour Fitness. He finished the game with 37 points, while Thompson added 35. “But we’ve got to stick to the game plan and make sure we’re locked in”. That includes the mostly impressive two games at Oracle, where Lillard shot very well on three-pointers but went 6-of-27 on twos against the Warriors’ stifling defense.
It wasn’t his fault, but the point was taken.
Only Game 3 of this suddenly revivified series wasn’t just about that.
Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, center, shoots over Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut, left, and forward Draymond Green, right, during the first half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Saturday, May 7, 2016, in Portland, Ore. Now, Portland prepares to answers his questions and Golden State braces for the reaction, with the Game 4 pressure shifting from Curry’s knee to Green’s own shoulders. His Blazers’ counterpart, Al-Farouq Aminu, badly outplayed him at both ends and provided the additional scorer the Blazers need to play off Lillard.
Wade scored 18 of his game-high 38 points for Miami in the third quarter, including a one-handed dunk in which he followed his missed jumper and got the rebound and slam all in one motion. After the game, Green specifically called out this game as his worst performance of the series – despite what the stats may say – because he failed to set the tone for the Warriors with defensive intensity. “We got beast because they were better”. Andre Iguodala and Harrison Barnes were effectively absent. “Tonight, I just wanted to come out and be aggressive”.
“I thought the first quarter we couldn’t find much rhythm to it, but we found a way to hang around”, Portland coach Terry Stotts said.
But Kerr felt the Warriors didn’t move the ball like they normally do early on.
Also: The Warriors didn’t lose back-to-back games all season and take enormous pride in their ability to bounce back from any adversity. The Warriors might roll without him.
Advertisement
But to do this in a more micro way, the Blazers outshot the Warriors, outdefended them, outdistributed them, outbenched them, and most noticeably of all, out-Lillarded them.
